A gas turbine engine typically includes a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section, and a turbine section. Air entering the compressor section is compressed and delivered into the combustion section where it is mixed with fuel and ignited to generate a high-speed exhaust gas flow. The high-speed exhaust gas flow expands through the turbine section to drive the compressor and the fan section.
Some sections of the engine, such as the compressor and turbine section, include arrays of airfoils circumferentially spaced from each other forming fluid flow passages between adjacent airfoils for air to pass. The fluid flow passages are established by adjacent airfoils projecting from laterally extending endwalls. Near the endwalls, the fluid flow is dominated by a flow phenomenon known as a horseshoe vortex, which forms as a result of the endwall boundary layer separating from the endwall as the gas approaches the leading edges of the airfoils. The separated gas reorganizes into the horseshoe vortex. There is a loss of efficiency associated with the vortex, and this loss is referred to as “secondary” or endwall loss. Accordingly, there exists a need for a way to mitigate or reduce endwall losses.